Firstly a big fat hello from the UK. I just bought a 2006 Prius and found this informative and busy forum. It's a shame Prius haven't really taken off here, hence no active forums. (not as active as this anyway) Looking forward to asking ''ya'll'' for advice very soon. Here is a quick picture of mine: Very bland I know, It hasn't even got carpets yet. First thing I have done is to rip out all of the wheel covers - Ah, so much better!
:welcome:to PC and congratulations on your new car. You are by no means the only one on here from England. There is one grumpy cabby on here and I am sure he will be saying hello as soon as he logs on again.
Welcome to PriusChat. There are a few active UK Prius owners, the most active being GrumpyCabbie. I'm an ex-pat and having been on a holiday to the UK last year I can certainly agree they are few in number. However, they're also harder to spot due to the plethora of hatchbacks. I did see at least one Auris hybrid while I was there. PS It's y'all. They don't use it around here, I just know about it.
Oh I heard about Grumpy Cabbie, he is also registered on another forum. Are there any online shops that sells Prius specific accessories? (UK postage required)
Hey another Brit :welcome: You'll find this forum an absolute mine of information about the Prius (and most of it useful ) Not sure what you mean about the Prius having not taken off in the UK though. The UK is the biggest hybrid market in Europe and in my small town I see dozens of Prii and the odd Auris hsd daily. By comparison the numbers of Prii sold in the UK in a year don't even come close to one months sales in the US. Check out this for a bit of fun; "prius" - How Many Left? Hope you enjoy your new motor and keep us upto date on your experiences with your new ride. p.s. They're much politer on here than some UK forums! Don't believe everything you see about Americans on Jerry Springer
How do you read that data? Have 49K Prius been licensed in the UK since 2000? If yes, then it looks like the number of UK Prius is ~6% of the US Prius number, while the UK population is ~20% of the US population.
So picking up from there, that would mean the UK as 30% as many Prii per capita. And, since the UK had 525 vehicle/1000 people and the US 828 vehicles/1000 people a few years ago, Prii would be 828/525x30%=47% as common in traffic as in the US on average.
Interesting I thought gasoline is more expensive in Europe so there would be more incentive to buy hybrid. Maybe more people take public transportation there and the rest rich ones who do buy cars don't care?
In the UK, the Prius price starts at GBP 21,055 which is ~USD 33,909. Toyota Prius Hybrid 2011 | Toyota UK Since the starting price is ~50% higher than the US price, that helps explain why the # of UK Prius relative to population is smaller as compared to the US.
Europe has a big selection of small (by North American standards) diesel powered cars. A Prius isn't nearly the big improvement in fuel economy in Europe that it is here.
That's it in a nutshell. Also, manual transmission is still prefered here in Europe than in the US. Mainly because of the superior fuel economy it gives. And before you say that isn't true I would add that most manual transmissions here are 6 speed and tuned for economy rather than the 5 speed 'sports' manuals you get. The Prius has a higher price than in the US (we have 20% sales tax for a start - all prices include delivery etc), but it still compares with other similar sized cars. The VW Golf is priced from £16,000 to £23,810 with similar specced cars to the Prius at comparable price.
Europe includes the VAT/Sales tax in the published price and the US doesn't include the sales tax in the published price. Considering several US states have 8%+ sales tax, that shrinks what appears to be a major price difference.
